Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Enbridge Inc., Canada's largest pipeline company, said third-quarter profit rose 88 percent as record crude prices prompted higher crude shipments.

Net income climbed to C$150.1 million ($130.4 million), or 41 cents a share, after payment of preferred dividends, from C$79.8 million, or 22 cents, a year earlier, the Calgary-based company said today in a statement. Revenue rose 66 percent to C$4.37 from C$2.63 billion.

Volume increased on the Athabasca liquid-pipeline system, rising 33 percent to 233,000 barrels per day. The unit's earnings gained 62 percent to C$17.5 million, helped by tolls collected on the Waupisoo Pipeline, which was completed in May.

``Most of the growth was driven by earnings from new pipeline projects,'' said Lanny Pendill, an analyst with Edward Jones in St. Louis who has a ``buy'' rating on the shares and doesn't own any. ``When you look at Enbridge, you have a company with above-average growth potential.''

Oil futures traded in New York soared to a record above $147 a barrel in the third quarter, up 57 percent from the previous year. Natural-gas futures averaged $9 per million British thermal units, up 44 percent.

Profit excluding certain items such as a C$61.4 million gain from derivatives was 24 cents a share, 2 cents below the average of 11 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Capital Projects

Enbridge is expanding its pipeline network to profit from increased demand for gas and crude oil from Canadian fields, including Alberta oil-sands projects. The company has C$12.2 billion worth of projects under management, and needs to fund about C$2 billion of debt and C$600 million of equity for them.

``Most importantly looking forward it appears that the $12 billion in projects are secured both from a commercial standpoint and a financing standpoint,'' Pendill said. ``They need very little access to capital markets, and they have flexibility as to when to do that.''

In August, Enbridge said it started building the Canadian portion of its Alberta Clipper Expansion project to supply crude oil to Canadian and U.S. markets. The pipeline will have an initial capacity of 450,000 barrels per day from Hardisty, Alberta, in Canada to the U.S. near Superior, Wisconsin.

Production from Alberta's oil-encrusted sands may jump to 2.8 million barrels a day by 2015 from 1.2 million in 2007, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said in June report. The deposits are estimated by the province to hold the largest reserves of oil outside of Saudi Arabia.

Enbridge fell 30 cents to C$42 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock, which has 10 buy recommendations from analysts and 7 holds, has risen 5 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jordan Burke in New York at jburke29@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 5, 2008 16:32 EST